4 out of 4 stars
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Defender of Jerusalem is the second book in a biological trilogy about Balian d'Ibelin. It follows Balian as he has recently become a baron and married the Dowager Queen of Jerusalem, but is facing conflict from Salah ad-Din, a Kurdish leader looking to take over Jerusalem. Based on facts and threaded through with fiction to make the story easier to understand, Defender of Jerusalem is enjoyable even as a stand-alone novel. The author, Helena Schrader, brilliantly included genealogical charts, various maps of Jerusalem, and most importantly, a list of characters and their relations to each other. A brief explanation of the first novel and general background of the time period is given before the start of the novel.
Those of you who paid attention in World History may be familiar with the bloody conflicts over Jerusalem that occurred in the 12th Century. In my case, however, groups such as the Templar Knights and Hospitallers were only vaguely familiar. The never-ending cast of characters was particularly difficult when it came to remembering who was married to whom, who was related by blood, and who held what land, etc. I’ll admit that it took me the first 100 pages or so before I could stop flipping back to the genealogical charts at the beginning of the novel.
That being said, it was so easy for me to fall in love with the story these characters were telling. Every character, from the servants to the kings and barons, was well-rounded and perfectly portrayed. It was interesting to see what each character worried about, as well as how they interacted with others in their sphere of influence. Many times I forgot that the characters in this novel were based on real people in history. Schrader has a real knack for storytelling, and I can see why her novels have won so many awards.
If I had to knit-pick anything at all, it would be the monotony of the discussions. I know that it can’t be helped if multiple sieges and battles require the same dialogue and sequence of actions, but I once lost my page and had to guess where I had been and move on from there. I found a discussion between two characters that I had been reading about before I left off, but as I continued to read I had no idea what was going on. I realized that I was about 100 pages off from where I had actually stopped reading, but was completely fooled because of the similar situations.
Defender of Jerusalem is a whopping 600+ pages of Middle Eastern history that not only chronicles the international conflicts of a holy war, but also the personal lives of those who fought in it. Schrader’s beautiful writing style and strong characters have earned this book an amazing 4 out of 4 stars from me. It was a challenge for me at first, not having any knowledge of that area and time period at all, but history aficionados – especially those with an interest in the Middle East and/or the Middle Ages – should definitely get their hands on this book.
Don’t forget that this book is also part of a trilogy! Without the other two books, you won’t get Balian’s full story.
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Defender of Jerusalem
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Great job on the review. Congratulations to Helena P. Schrader on such an obviously well written book.
